Coming to PBS’s American Experience tonight, Monday, September 14 and tomorrow, Tuesday, September 14, and being released on DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 14: WALT DISNEY
Sarah Colt’s two-part, four-hour exploration of the life and legacy of the famed filmmaker and showman makes its debut over two nights on the popular long-running PBS program.
Faced with such an iconic subject, Colt is provided a bit more room to play with than in most such public television biographies, but even so struggles somewhat with finding a consistent focus. It’s an understandable problem, given her iconic subject, and despite occasional choppiness and the elision of huge swaths of time, particularly in the less structured second half, the documentary succeeds in providing a measure of insight. Part One details Disney’s humble, small town beginnings, early forays in animation, creation of his best known character, and development of Walt Disney Studios, culminating in the risky but critically acclaimed SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES, a film that demonstrated that cartoons were not just gags for kids, but could sustain feature length and handle more adult themes. His relationship with his more practical, financially-minded brother, Roy, gets some consideration, as does Walt’s savvy in exploiting the possibilities of licensed merchandise and branding. The first part also covers Disney’s development of BAMBI, PINOCCHIO, and FANTASIA, and the unionization of Disney’s animators against his wishes. Part Two is a bit more scattered, but largely concerns itself with Disney’s ambitious plans for both Disneyland and the later Disneyworld and EPCOT Center, with some television footage of the former’s grand opening used particularly well here. As in the first half, Disney demonstrates great showmanship, brokering a deal with ABC to finance his theme park while gaining valuable airtime to promote via a weekly TV series he himself hosted. Among the other topics given shorter shrift here are the mass phenomenon of Disney’s DAVY CROCKETT program; his testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee, which provided him with the opportunity to get revenge on the union organizers who upset his control; the diversification of his studios’ output into family documentaries and live-action films; criticism about films like THE SONG OF THE SOUTH being out of touch with modern day sentiments around race; and his general stepping back from active involvement in the filmmaking process, to the detriment of such projects as CINDERELLA. What’s most surprising here is the candor on display that doesn’t shy away from the contradictory or even negative elements of Disney’s professional demeanor. Interviewees who were directly connected to Disney, including some aging animators, offer deep respect for the man, but also share anecdotes of his more challenging side, while academics provide often illuminating context and analysis that sometimes points to his flaws. That Colt made this with the Walt Disney Company’s cooperation is a surprise, given how protective they typically are of their image, and that of their storied founder.
what (not) to doc 